Dimitri POV.

Roza had been missing for a week and I'd barely slept at all since she'd been gone. We'd searched Court from top to bottom, I'd called Ma and asked if she'd heard from her. I'd spoken to Yeva to see if she could help me, but she'd said that she couldn't. She was uncharacteristically quiet though, which scared me more than anything else. Yeva liked Roza as much as she liked any of her family. She'd called when Roza had been poisoned but now that she was missing, she had nothing to say. Did that mean that she knew why Roza had left me and didn't want to get involved? Or was I supposed to work it out for myself? Yeva was very much like the old Slavic legends of Baba Yaga. An old woman who either helps or hinders those who seek her out. She usually helped me but this time she was hindering.
I'd spent the last week wondering what I could have done to make her stay. Or at least try. If there was one thing that I knew about Roza, she didn't like people making her do anything. She was a free spirit, desperately trying to control her own life. Still I couldn't help but wonder about the what ifs. What if I'd have gone with Roza when she'd left the party. What if I'd stopped her from arguing with her father... There were so many things that I wished that I'd done, but it was too late for any of it.
Instead, I'd focused all of my energy on finding her and bringing her home. I couldn't believe that she would just leave us like that, that she'd have walked away from me, from Vasilisa or her duties over an argument with her father. She had though. She'd left without a word, without a note. I'd gone home looking for her but she wasn't there. Neither was her duffle bag, her toothbrush or her clothes. She'd completely wiped the place out; all that was left was her pyjamas on the end of the bed. She'd left me and there was nothing that I could do about it.
I looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost three in the morning, though for the rest of the world it was three in the afternoon. Aside from the guardians on duty, the rest of Court was asleep but sleep evaded me completely. I'd lost my Roza and nothing else seemed to matter in comparison.
A little while later, there was a pounding on my door. I stood up from the couch and went to it, only to be stopped in my tracks by a bellowing voice.
"Belikov! Belikov, opened the damned the door." Adrian Ivashkov's voice called through the door.
I went over and opened it. "What do you want?"
"I've found her." He said, though he didn't look too happy about it.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"You're going to want to sit down for this one, Belikov." He said, walking past me. He went straight in to the kitchen, to the fridge and pulled out one of Roza's beers.
"Those are Roza's." I said through gritted teeth.
"Trust me, she won't mind." He said and then sat down at the breakfast bar. "I found her."
"Where is she?"
"There's more to it than that." He said, taking another swig of beer. "I've been trying to dream walk with her ever since she went missing but I've never been able to find her. Tonight I did."
"And?"
"She didn't leave you, Dimitri." He said, his eyes meeting mine. "She was taken."
My heart started to beat fast in my chest and I clenched my fists. "By whom?"
"That I don't know." He said, running a hand through his messy hair. "She remembers being at the party and arguing with Abe. She remembers leaving and heading home and that's it. The next thing she knew was waking up in a hotel room."
"A hotel? Which one?"
"I got her to show it to me and I'm pretty sure that she's in Vegas."
"What would she be doing in Vegas?"
"I have no idea. I've narrowed it down to two different hotels. I don't..."
I was vaguely aware that he was still speaking to me but I wasn't listening. My Roza had been taken from me. The only people that would be able to do something like was a guardian or a Moroi. Humans didn't know that we existed and those that did wouldn't know where to find us unless they were working with strigoi, and strigoi would never have been able to cross the wards. Someone had taken her, someone that we trusted. Someone that she trusted.
Who would want to take her from me and why hadn't she found a way out? Why hadn't she called? There were too many questions that I needed answers to and Roza was the only one that could answer them for me.
"Are you listening?" Adrian asked, clicking his fingers in front of my face.
"No." I said honestly. "We have to go and get her."
"Yes but I need you to listen to me for a minute." He said. "There's something else going on here. Rose said that there's a package coming for you and Abe."
"What kind of package?"
"I don't know, but it's something that she doesn't want either of you to see." Adrian said. I could feel the worry radiating out of him.
"Is she all right?"
"I don't know. I gave her control of the dream but she didn't change. She was wearing the red dress from the party. She looked exactly the same. It was her aura though. She has dark colours in her aura any way from the darkness that came through the bond but it was something more. Its all red, black and green."
"What does that mean?"
"Anger, pure, red mist kind of anger. Hatred. She's been touch by evil. I don't know, Belikov. There's something seriously wrong with her." He said, his eyes watering as he spoke.
"You still love her." It wasn't a question and I didn't particularly want an answer but he nodded.
"Rose isn't the kind of person that you just move on from."
"No. She isn't." I said quietly and then went to pack a pack.
I pulled out my own duffle bag that was similar to Roza's and started to throw things inside; clothes, toiletries, various weapons and one of my favourite Western novels. Adrian and I would need to use Court's private jet to go to Vegas and I'd need to take my mind off of whatever was happening with my Roza.
For someone to have taken her from Court, it had to be some sort of political agenda. To prove that the Queen's guardian wasn't capable or to take Roza out of the way for a bigger attack. I made a mental note to call down to Alberta before we left, zipped up the bag and grabbed my duster off the back of the door.
"Let's go." I said to Adrian.

We went to Vasilisa and Christian first, telling them that we thought we knew where Roza was and that we were going to go and bring her home but we needed use of Court's private jet. Vasilisa almost broke down in tears. She'd missed Roza and made herself sick with worry. Adrian and I had decided, before we knocked on their door, that we wouldn't tell them that Roza had been taken. It would only make her feel worse.
"I'm coming with you." Christian said and stood up.
"That's not a good idea." I said calmly. "You are a royal Moroi and more importantly, engaged to the Queen. You would present is with a different set of problems that would interfere with our task."
"You're kidding right?" He asked. He knew that we weren't and frowned. "You're my guardian. You have to take me with you."
"I have to keep you safe and the safest place for you at this moment in time is here at Court, where you will be surrounded by guardians at all times." I said, quickly losing my patience.
He looked over to his fiancée and smiled. "And if the Queen were to order you to take me with you, would that change anything at all?" He asked.
Unfortunately, it did. If the Queen asked me to take him with me, I couldn't refuse. My face must have said as much because Christian smiled triumphantly.
"Liss, tell him." Christian said.
Vasilisa put on her 'Queen face', the one that she used when she was on duty and nodded. "Guardian Belikov, take Lord Ozera with you on your trip."
"Yes, Your Majesty." I said, holding back my sigh.
"Dimitri, please." Vasilisa said, her calm cracking. "Please bring her home."
"I'll do my best." I said and then turned to Christian. "We leave in ten minutes. Be ready or we'll leave without you."
He scurried off in to the bedroom and came out exactly six minutes later with a small bag. "Ready." He said and kissed Vasilisa quickly. "We'll bring her home, Liss. I promise."

As we were walking down the corridor to leave, there was a small box outside Abe and Janene's room. Adrian looked at it and then looked over to me. Was this the package that Roza hadn't wanted me to see? By the look on Adrian's face, I assumed that it was.
He bent down and picked it up, frowning at the label. "It's addressed to both of you. Ibrahim Mazur and Dimitri Belikov."
"Is that the package?"
"It must be, right? Why else would it be for both of you?" Adrian asked with a frown.
Christian looked back and forth between the two of us with a frown. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm missing something?"
We ignored him and continued talking between ourselves. "Why wouldn't she want me to see it?"
"I don't know. Should we give it to Abe?"
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Christian asked.
"Rose didn't leave." Adrian said.
"Of course she did. She packer her stuff and she left in the middle of the party."
"No, she didn't. She was going home and someone took her." Adrian said, still holding the package in his hands.
I stared at it but it didn't look particularly ominous. It was an ordinary package; brown paper with a small white label on it. It had been hand delivered, there was no post mark on it or the Court's seal to say that it was safe. Someone had come up to the Queen's floor, someone that the guardians wouldn't think twice about. Someone that was trusted.
I took the package out of Adrian's hands and turned around, going straight to my apartment. I unlocked the door and went inside, dropping my bag on the floor and going to sit on the sofa. Adrian and Christian followed, Adrian sitting beside me and Christian taking the armchair.
"She doesn't want you to open it." Adrian said quietly, though I could see that he was just as curious as I was.
"It might help us get her back." I said but didn't make a move to open it. I stared at it, trying to decide what the right thing to do was. It had to be something bad if Roza didn't want me to see it, but what could be so bad?
I was still deliberating it when Christian reached forward and took the box off the table. He ripped the paper off and opened the box, putting it down in front of me.
"There. Now she can't be mad because technically, you didn't open it." He said triumphantly.
I nodded and looked inside. There was a thin CD case and a folded piece of paper but nothing else. I brought them out and laid them on the table in front of me. The CD was actually a DVD, the words 'PLAY ME' written on the front in marker pen. Christian stood up and turned the television on, slipping the DVD in to the player.
We all focused on the screen when an image of Roza and a man sitting on a bed appeared. Roza was wearing a white dress, something she'd never wear by choice, her hands clasped together in her lap. She kept her face turned away from the camera but there was something wrong with the way that she was sitting. All of her muscles were tense, her spine was rigid. I couldn't see the man's face but there was something familiar about his hair, a distant memory that I couldn't quite reach.
"You see, Rosie." The man said. "I need him to see what will become of you. I need him to feel so terrible that he'll come to your rescue."
"You're insane." Roza said, her voice quivering slightly. She was afraid and that made my blood boil.
"I prefer evil genius." He said. "It is quite ingenious though, to cause so much emotional pain to a man before causing him physical pain. It makes it so much more...intense." He struck out, raking his nails down Roza's face. She screamed and my heart missed a beat. "Yes, Rose. Scream for me."
He clamped his hand around her throat, standing up and bringing her with him. Her back was to the camera but I could see him clearly. He stood roughly a foot taller than Roza and I recognised him instantly.
I'd known him when I'd been turned. His name was Nathan and he'd been on Galina's estate when I had. He'd shown an interest in Roza but I'd never allowed him near her. Not because I loved her but because she was mine. She was my pet to do with as I pleased. And now, she was with another strigoi that felt exactly the same way. I clenched my fists as I watched them, desperately trying to remain calm.
"Scream for them, Rosie. Scream for your father and your lover." Nathan said, his eyes sparkling as he looked right at me.
"Fuck you." She said with such venom in her voice that I had hope for just a second.
He was doing something to Roza but I couldn't see because her body was blocking my view. "I can see why Belikov chose you to be his. Such a strong body, supple. You're everything that most women wish that they could be. Sex on legs with an attitude to match. I'll enjoy taking you again, Rosie." He said, raising an eyebrow at the camera.
Nausea rolled through my stomach. He'd said 'again', which meant that he'd already taken her at least once. My poor, Roza. "Turn it off." I growled but no one moved. I turned away from the images in front of me and saw that Christian was crying as his eyes were focused on the screen. Fat tears rolled down his pale cheeks as he watched Roza being violated. I looked over to Adrian but he wasn't watching. His eyes were fixed on the floor, his arms were wrapped around himself and he was rocking back and forth slightly. His lips were moving but no sound was coming.
I took a deep breath and turned back to the screen, knowing that I needed to see exactly what was happening to my Roza.
Nathan had continued speaking but I hadn't been listening but Roza's voice called out to me. "I highly doubt that." She said.
"We shall see. You love the bite, Rosie." He said as he trailed his fangs up the side of neck. He'd moved her hair out of the way and I could see fangs marks there already. He'd bitten her before. "All you have to do is ask for it and I'll give it to you."
He spun her around quickly so that she was facing the camera and my heart dropped to my stomach. My Roza, my beautiful Roza, looked awful. She had a split lip and dark circles around her eyes; whether they were bruises or just from a lack of sleep, I didn't know. She closed her eyes as if she were trying to protect me from seeing her in pain or so scared but it was too late. I'd known her for so long that it was as if her feelings were my own. I know what every sound meant, every movement. She was terrified but she was trying to be brave. For me. Her hands were shaking at her sides but she made no attempt to move.
"Why isn't she doing anything?" Christian asked. "Why isn't she fighting him?"
"She can't." Adrian said quietly. "She tried, look at her. She tried and she failed and she's lost faith in herself. She's broken."
There was a growl and then Roza's dressed was ripped away from her, leaving in nothing but her underwear. It was the bra that she'd had on under her red dress for the party but the panties were different. What once had been black lace to match the bra were now plain white cotton, as if he were trying to make her look as innocent as possible. The dress fell to the floor and then his hands went to her back, her bra joining the dress on the floor. I closed my eyes momentarily and then Christian gasped. I looked back up and saw that Roza had decided to fight. Nathan had his hands clutching his nose and then she used one of her signature moves on him. It was the move that she always used on me when I was least expecting it, one that brought me to the ground every single time. He fell to the ground and I watched as Roza's muscles tensed, ready to run. She didn't get the chance though. Before she'd taken a step, he had her pinned to the bed. It was a blur but somehow he'd managed to stand up, take him pants down and pin her in less than a second. He ripped her panties away and smiled down at her with a predatory look in his eyes.
"Oh, Rosie." He said. "I've always loved it when you put up a fight."
Roza screamed when he thrust himself in to her, an agonised scream that tore me apart. "Dimtri, please." She whispered. "Please help me."
Her pleas ripped my soul apart as I broke down. Nathan was going to die, slowly and painfully for the things that he'd done to my Roza.
Nathan growled and forced himself in to her with more force. "You will not say his name when you are with me, Rosie."
Of course, that made Roza call out for me even more. Every time was like a slice to my heart. She bucked her hips, trying desperately to get out from uner him, to get away. She was too weak though, probably from blood loss. Nathan roared and withdrew from her and left her on the bed whilst he retrieved his belt from his pants.
My stomach rolled as I followed his gaze. He was going to beat her with his belt and there was nothing that I could do to stop him. He flipped her over so that she was face down, wrapped the belt around his hand twice and then brought it down on her back, the metal buckle acting like a blade and slicing her beautiful skin open.
Roza screamed and begged for him to stop but he didn't. He hit her and hit her, again and again until her back was covered with her own blood. Her dropped the belt to the ground and ran his finger through the blood, popping it in his mouth and sucking it clean. He told Roza that he'd never get enough of 'this' but I couldn't be sure if he meant of her, hurting her or her blood. Knowing him, it was all of the above.
"Fuck... you." Roza said through gritted teeth moments before she passed out.
"Oh my God." Christian said quietly, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Sadly, I could believe it. I'd known Nathan do this to women before, though most of them usually died of shock. I needed to get to her before he could hurt her any more or break her spirit so much that she ended up like the others. At the rate he was going it wouldn't take long.
He thrust himself back in to Roza's unconcious body, pinning her arms behind her back. She woke up shortly after and screamed, attempting to kick him but her feet wouldn't reach him. He reached his climax quickly and pulled out, leaning down so that his chest laid in top of her back.
He turned her head so that she was facing the camera, her tears rolling down and wetting the bed beneath her. "Smile for your loved ones Rosie." He said and then turned to face the camera.
"Zmey, I will make you a trade. Your life for that of your daughter. Surrender yourself and she will be given back to you. Refuse and she will be mine for the rest of her life. I will feed off of her and ravish her body for the rest of days until she is broken. Only then will I put the little blood whore out of her misery. You've got twenty four hours from the moment that you see this messgae. There is a number inside the package, call it and tou will be given the instructions for your surrender."
I wasn't looking at Nathan's face but at Roza's. She was staring down the camera as if she was trying to tell me something but I had no idea what it was. Nathan's hand reached down, grabbing a handful of Roza's hair and forced her to stand up. She was facing the camera so that I could see all of her body and then he sunk his fangs in to her neck, just above her collar bone. Her eyes rolled back in her head and then she was gone, limply resting against him. He wrapped an arm underneath her breasts, keeping her body upright as he drank from her.
He was taking too much from her and she was starting to go pale but then he quickly stopped, letting go of her so that she fell to the floor at his feet.
"Twenty four hours, Mazur." He said and then the screen went black.?
I stared at the screen, trying desperately to calm myself. There was a white-hot anger coursing through my veins and all I wanted to do was kill the monster that hurt my Roza without a moments hesitation. I needed to remain calm, to be strong for Roza, but it was so hard to do.
The three of us sat in silence for a while, processing what we'd just witnessed. Christian was still crying, sniffing loudly as he tried to control himself. He and Roza hadn't liked each other at first but over the years they'd formed a close relationship. They were like siblings that fought each other like cat and dog but would protect each other fiercely.
Adrian was still rocking himself, his eyes filled with tears though none actually fell. He was muttering something to himself but I couldn't make it out. He looked at me suddenly, his eyes filled with pain. He loved her, as we all did. "She never told me." He said quietly. "I was with her last night and she never told me. She didn't want us to see it and now we've seen it. She didn't tell me, Dimitri."
"I know." I said, resting my hand lightly on his shoulder. She wouldn't have told him. She'd have wanted to protect us all from the horrors that she'd faced. "We'll find her, Adrian."
"What did he do?" Christian asked. "What could Abe have done that was bad that Rose had to go through that?"
"I don't know." I said, trying not to choke on the lump in my throat. I didn't know why Nathan would want to torture Roza just to hurt Abe, but I was going to find out.

I hammered on Abe's door until he answered. He was in his pyjamas, his hair messy and his eyes tired.
"What's so important, Belikov?" he asked, clearly annoyed.
"Come with me." I said, leaving little room for argument.
"Can this wait until the morning?"
"No. You need to come with me now." I said and grabbed his shoulder, bunching his pyjama shirt in my hand and marching down the corridor in to my own room. "Sit down." I said as I threw him on to the sofa.
Some of the guardians had seen or heard to commotion and followed us. They stood in the doorway with curiosity. "Get out." I shouted and they quickly left.
"What is the meaning of this?" Abe asked, looking from Adrian to Christian. "Is it Rose? Is she all right?"
"No." I said. "She is definitely not all right." I pressed play on the DVD player and went in to the kitchen with Christian and Adrian, leaving him to watch it alone. I didn't need to see it again, it was burned in to my brain for ever.
"Do you have a plan?" Christian asked.
"Other than going to find her and bringing her home, no." I said honestly. I had a plan for Nathan of course, countless ways to make him suffer for the things that he'd done to my Roza.
We sat in silence for a while, watching Adrian pour himself glass after glass of whiskey. I probably should have stopped him but I didn't have the heart. He'd just witnessed something horrible. If I didn't have to think of a strategy, I'd probably have joined him. He had plenty of time to sober up on the plane, so I didn't stop him.
We heard a pained cry coming from the living room and I started to feel guilty. I shouldn't have made Abe watch it, but by all accounts it was his fault that Roza was suffering. I waited until I heard him crying and then went in to the living room. The screen was black and Abe was crying, his head in his hands.
"You know him?" I asked.
He nodded. "It's Nathan Francis. He used to work for me."